We Are Not Fit to Judge

In Psalm 98, the psalmist praises the judge of the world.

Psalm 98:9 (NRSVue) - for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

In John 5, Jesus explains his authority as judge.

John 5:30 (NRSVue) - As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

The right to judge is within the authority of the Lord.

It is not within our authority.

Yet daily we judge our neighbors by our own standards.

We judge based on our own set of prejudices, limited experiences and even our moods.

We even judge based on superficial things such as appearance.

We judge, not knowing what is going on in their lives.

We are warned not to judge.

Matthew 7:1 (NRSVue) - Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.

Surely, this is reason enough.

But beyond this, we are not fit to judge.

Only the Lord is fit to judge.

The Lord does not see others as we see them.

The Lord sees with justice.

He also sees with dignity and mercy.

Fortunately, that is also the way the Lord sees us.

Romans 8:1-2 (NRSVue) - Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

 

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com on Friday, July 24, 2026.

I will be back here on Friday, August 7, 2026

Not Just for Children

People come to me with questions.

Frankly, I enjoy questions because they force me to dig deeper.

Someone who knew English is not my first language asked me about a hymn.

They asked me if I knew the lyrics to that hymn in my first language.

I said I did and they asked me to recite it back to them in that language.

The hymn in question was Jesus Loves Me.

This is a song many children learn.

Strangely enough, we tend not to sing it when we become adults.

Anna Bartlett Warner wrote the words.

William B. Bradbury composed the tune.

Jesus loves me, this I know,

for the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to him belong;

they are weak, but he is strong.

The version I was taught as a child goes like this:

Má Pán Ježíš, má mě rád,

Čisto Písmo nastokrát!

Všecky děti, jak jen jsou,

srdci jeho zálibou.

This is an adequate translation, albeit inexact.

So, I translated the second version back into English literally.

The result was both pleasantly surprising and reassuring.

My Lord Jesus, He has love for me,

Pure Scripture (tells me) a hundred times over!

All children, whatever they are,

(they are) a passion close to His heart.

Although not quite, the original, I love the retranslation.

Our Lord Jesus has love for us.

Pure Scripture reminds us of this repeatedly.

All children, even those my age, are a passion close to His heart.

This is why I love questions and enjoy digging deeper.

In doing so, a simple melody intended for children is transformed.

It becomes a poetic message about Christ’s active love for us all.

 

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com on Friday, July 10, 2026.

I will be back here on Friday, July 17, 2026